Montevallo Mayor Hollie Cost is recommending the municipality purchase the Victory Autos building on Main Street adjacent to City Hall for the municipality's new home base. (Martin J. Reed / mreed@al.com)

Mayor Hollie Cost during a work session last month
presented her recommendation for the purchase of the building at a cost of
$400,000 under a $1.2 million plan to provide a new space for City Hall. She
had asked the council to review the proposal for consideration at tonight's
meeting.

The topic of the building's purchase never came up for
discussion during tonight's meeting. Cost in an interview after the meeting
said the city is awaiting the completion of studies pertaining to
environmental, structural and electrical engineering on the building.

"We are waiting to get back the information," Cost said. "We
expect that to come back up in about a month or month and a half."

Cost is proposing the city purchase the Victory Autos
building adjacent to City Hall under a $500,000 deal that involves the
landowners charging $400,000 for the structure and providing the remaining
balance, around $100,000, as a donation to the municipality.

The deal would be part of an overall plan to provide new
space for City Hall and the police department, both of which have issues with
leaking rooftops, electrical and engineering problems, and space constraints.

Under Cost's recommendation, the city would renovate
about 6,000 square feet of the Victory Autos building for use by City Hall,
leaving much of the building available for future expansion or other uses such
as a meeting or community space.

The police department would vacate its existing
headquarters and occupy the current City Hall. The existing police building
would be demolished.

The project's cost includes $400,000 for the building
purchase, $600,000 to renovate the structure and another $223,000 to remodel
the existing City Hall for the police department's use.